Melbourne

All too soon, our five days had passed and it was time to leave.  I was very sorry to go because Jacinta and Reg had made us feel SO welcome. Still, leaving people behind is all part of travelling...
 
This was the verse I wrote inside our thankyou card to them...
 
"I'd like to give you both a kiss,
 For taking us in at a time like this,
 We appreciate it, you see
 Even though there's no tv,
 And now it seems it's time to go,
 I really wish it wasn't so,
 And tho' it seems a shame to spoil it,
 Eventually we'd just have blocked your toilet."
 
I thought that was rather good.  I wonder if Hallmark would be interested?
 
I was starting to worry about my emails home.  Firstly, because of the fact that I had a tendency to forget  that they were going out to real people who I actually knew.  I began to worry that upon my return I would find myself infamous as "The Cat Box Guy".  It's a hell of a label to have to go through life with.
 
Another problem was that my desicriptions of the people I had met seemed to have left some people upset.  Take, for example, "Disgruntled of Kumeu" (Karen Sparen) who complained to me that I had described Jenny Jordan as "incredibly pretty" but hadn't said the same thing about HER.
 
Let's just set this thing straight right now.  Karen Sparen is LOVELY.  
 
Phew.
 
On the other hand, I liked the idea that anything I write is a form of public service.  For example, I can warn you right now to never use McCafferty's BLOODY bus BLOODY service to ride from Brisbane to Byron Bay.  The Bus Nazis employed by this company made the trip thoroughly disagreeable, from checking in to embarking.  Once ON the bus it wasn't too bad; I always enjoy looking at scenery, and  Surfer's Paradise is an amazing - a very long, very thin strip of hotels, restaurants and surf shops which service the whole hanging around on a beach looking muscular and tanned industry.  Caro snorted at how tacky it was.  I thought it was kind of cool.  But then, I'm from Scarborough where we have taken Bad Taste and placed it on a throne, which is itself covered in neon lights and furry gonks.